.308 Winchester
The .308 Winchester (pronounced: "three-oh-eight" or "three-aught-eight") is a rimless, bottlenecked, rifle cartridge and is the commercial cartridge from which the 7.62×51mm NATO round was derived. The .308 Winchester was introduced in 1952, two years prior to the NATO adoption of the 7.62×51mm NATO T65. Winchester branded the cartridge and introduced it to the commercial hunting market as the .308 Winchester. Winchester's Model 70 and Model 88 rifles were subsequently chambered for the new cartridge. Since then, the .308 Winchester has become the most popular short-action, big-game hunting cartridge worldwide. It is also commonly used for civilian target shooting, military sniping, and police sharpshooting. The relatively short case makes the .308 Winchester especially well-adapted for short-action rifles. When loaded with a bullet that expands, tumbles, or fragments in tissue, this cartridge is capable of high terminal performance.Chamberlin FT, Gun Shot Wounds, in Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders, Vol. II, Ackley PO, ed., Plaza Publishing, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1966. Courtney A, Courtney M: Links between traumatic brain injury and ballistic pressure waves originating in the thoracic cavity and extremities. Brain Injury 21(7): 657-662, 2007. Scientific Evidence for Hydrostatic Shock Although very similar to the military 7.62×51mm NATO specifications, the .308 cartridge is not identical, and there are special considerations that may apply when mixing these cartridges with 7.62×51mm NATO, and .308 Winchester chambered arms.7.62×51mm NATO or 308 Winchester? Their interchange is, however, considered safe by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute (SAAMI).SAAMI Unsafe Arms and Ammunition Combinations Cartridge dimensions The .308 Winchester has 3.64 ml (56.0 grains) cartridge case capacity.Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading, Fourth Edition, 1991, Hornady Manufacturing Company, Grand Island, NE. The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt action rifles and machine guns alike, under extreme conditions. .308 Winchester maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All dimensions in millimeters (mm) and inches. Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 = 20 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 305 mm (1 in 12 in), 4 grooves, Ø lands = 7.62 mm, Ø grooves = 7.82 mm, land width = 4.47 mm and the primer type is large rifle.Nosler Reloading Guide Number Four, 1996, Nosler, Inc., Bend OR. According to the official C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives) rulings the .308 Winchester can handle up to Pmax piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. This means that .308 Winchester chambered arms in C.I.P. regulated countries are currently (2008) proof tested at PE piezo pressure.C.I.P. TDCC sheet .308 Winchester Usage and performance The .308 Winchester is one of the most successful hunting cartridges in the United States, and possibly the world. It has gained popularity in many countries as an exceptional cartridge for game in the medium- to large-sized class.Speer Reloading Manual Number 12, 1994, Blount, Inc., Lewiston, ID. In North America it is used extensively on whitetail deer, pronghorn and even the occasional caribou or black bear. Clay Harvey, an American gun writer, says it is usable on moose and elk.Popular Sporting Rifle Cartridges DBI Books, 1984. Layne Simpson, an American who has hunted in Sweden, says he is surprised how many hunters there use the cartridge."The 20th Century's Top Rifle Cartridge," Shooting Times, Feb. 2000. Accessed online Dec. 31, 2012. The "top" rifle cartridge in the century, he says, is the .30-06. Craig Boddington was told by a Norma Precision executive that the .308 is one of Norma's best-selling calibers."Best Sellers," RifleShooter, Jan.Feb. 2013. In Africa the .308 Win is one of the most popular calibers among Bushveld hunters and is used on anything from duiker right up to the massive eland (a small and large African antelope respectively). Proponents of the hydrostatic shock theory contend that the .308 Winchester has sufficient energy to impart hydrostatic shock to living targets when rapidly expanding bullets deliver a high rate of energy transfer.Sturtevant B, Shock Wave Effects in Biomechanics, Sadhana, 23: 579-596, 1998.Suneson A, Hansson HA, Seeman T: Pressure Wave Injuries to the Nervous System Caused by High Energy Missile Extremity Impact: Part I. Local and Distant Effects on the Peripheral Nervous System. A Light and Electron Microscopic Study on Pigs. The Journal of Trauma. 30(3):281–294; 1990. The .308 Winchester has slightly more drop at long range than the .30-06 Springfield, owing to its slightly lower (100 ft/s) muzzle velocity with most bullet weights. Cartridges with significantly higher muzzle velocities, such as the .300 Winchester Magnum can have significantly less drop at long range. File:30calCOMPAREdropMOA.png|Trajectory comparisons between .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, and .300 Winchester MagnumLitz, Brian. Applied Ballistics for Long Range Shooting. Cedar Springs, MI : Applied Ballistics, LLC, 2009. File:.308 Winchester bullet (150 grain FMJ).JPG|Ultra-high speed photo of a 150 grain FMJ .308 Winchester bullet photographed with an air-gap flash. As a parent case , .30-06 Springfield, 7.92×57mm Mauser, 6.5×55mm and .308 Winchester cartridges. The 7.62×51mm NATO (not pictured) is similar in appearance to the .308 Winchester.]] Several more cartridges have been developed using the .308 Winchester as a parent case, some becoming very popular for hunting, particularly in North America. These are the .243 Winchester, the .260 Remington (aka 6.5-08 A-Square), the 7 mm-08 Remington, the .338 Federal, and the .358 Winchester (aka 8.8×51mm). In 1980, two rimmed cartridges based on the .308 Winchester were introduced for use in the Winchester Model 94 XTR Angle Eject rifle: the .307 Winchester and the .356 Winchester. File:Game Class vs 6 inch Maximum Point Blank Range of some cartridges in the 308 Winchester Family.png|Game Class vs 6 inch Maximum Point Blank Range. File:Sectional Density vs Ballistic Coefficient of some projectiles of the 308 Winchester Family.png|Sectional Density vs Ballistic Coefficient. *.243 Winchester *.260 Remington *7mm-08 Remington *7.62×51mm NATO *.338 Federal *.358 Winchester See also * .30 RAR * Delta L problem * Hydrostatic shock * List of firearms * List of rifle cartridges * Table of handgun and rifle cartridges * Sectional density References * C.I.P. decisions, texts and tables (free current C.I.P. CD-ROM version download (ZIP and RAR format)) External links * Ultra-high speed .308 photos amateur high speed photography * .308 Winchester Cartridge Guide by AccurateShooter.com * .308 Videos by StoppingPower.Info Category:Pistol and rifle cartridges Category:Winchester Repeating Arms Company firearms